Microsoft goes after fake Halo 4 beta site

If you get an invitation to sign up for the Halo 4 beta, don’t fall for it. The site associated with the invites, Halo4beat.net (pictured), is a fake.

Halo 4 is one of the most anticipated games of 2012 and it is expected to launch in the holidays. Spots in the beta test are likely to be coveted.

Microsoft has filed a complaint with the National Arbitration Forum to have the site permanently shut down and its domain name taken.

David Ellis, creative director of Microsoft’s 343 Industries, warned a couple of weeks ago that the page was a fake. The site reportedly shut down after that, but Microsoft is going after it anyway, since the URL used in the apparent “phishing” scam is still out there. Microsoft has to show that the domain in question was registered maliciously in order to win the case.

Last June, Microsoft bought the domain name Halo4.com for an undisclosed amount.

[screen image credit: Fusible]

 

Dean Takahashi

Dean Takahashi is editorial director for GamesBeat at VentureBeat. He has been a tech journalist since 1988, and he has covered games as a beat since 1996. He was lead writer for GamesBeat at VentureBeat from 2008 to April 2025. Prior to that, he wrote for the San Jose Mercury News, the Red Herring, the Wall Street Journal, the Los Angeles Times, and the Dallas Times-Herald. He is the author of two books, "Opening the Xbox" and "The Xbox 360 Uncloaked." He organizes the annual GamesBeat Next, GamesBeat Summit and GamesBeat Insider Series: Hollywood and Games conferences and is a frequent speaker at gaming and tech events. He lives in the San Francisco Bay Area.